First post of 2008

I don't really believe in resolutions but it is always nice to aim for something. Resulotions made at this time of year are broken by the end of this month and they are only set to carry out for 365 days or 366 in the case of this year.

In 2008 the biggest thing I have planned is the bees. I have the first lesson in my course this month and Lesley and Carl are also going, which was a nice surprise and it will be nice to see a friendly face rather than be faced with a classroom full of strangers for 90 minutes.

I am also going to be keeping more quail, I reduced my numbers drastically over the winter for the simple reason that it was costing me money to feed them and they were not actually laying eggs. I am going to be breeding Jumbo quail, Italian quail and Japanese quail. The Jumbo quail are the biggest type of quail and the type used for meat, if you feed them on turkey crumb they easily reach 16oz, I am sure they will be delicious. I am off to set up the incubator as soon as I am done here.

I hope to continue to do my work for the Battery Hen Welfare Trust (www.bhwt.org.uk) and hopefully I will add to my small flock of hens once again. I have just persuaded my aunty to keep more hens. She has two pekin bantams in an eglu at the moment but she is upgrading to a large wooden house. She plans to keep 18 hens but wants to start with 10 and then add to them as and when she needs/wants them. She is going to have the 4 growers I currently have and 6 ex-battery hens in March.

I want to get more out of the allotment this year. That £20 has to keep it's worth. I had so much veg in the summer but I have had such bad luck with all of the winter veg. I would like fresh vegetables all year around. Which reminds me, I need to sow some broad beans!

My bi-orb is now fully set up and in working order, it was such an easy thing to set up and it looks great in my bedroom. I have two fish in there at the moment and I hope to add to it soon, but I need to let the filter sort itself out first and get used to dealing with the fish waste.

My 2008 couldn't have got off to a better start. I cooked up a feast for the family, (mum, dad, brother, 3 cousins, aunty, uncle) of Roast turkey, roast potatoes, loads of veg, mash, pigs in blankets, stuffing, a second christmas lunch really. Followed by my home made Christmas Pudding we still have another one left which I look forward to. Then I went to the Villa match and we won 2-1 the thing which makes the victory better is that I won £33. Every game my uncle and I have a bet on first and last goalscorers (£1 on first and £1 on last). I predicted Martin Laursen to score last goal and he did at 33-1. A great header in the 85th minute.

I hope that you've had a fantastic festive period and all the best for 2008 to you all.

Right I now need to set up the incubator, take some library books back, sow some broad beans and hopefully update my AAGB website.

Merry New Year!

Martin